Obama disrespects the Declaration

Phyllis Schlaffly Tuesday reminded us of what had been written of numerous times before: Barack Obama leaves “by their creator” out of the all-important words “That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights” from our great Declaration of Independence. Here is a Newsmax account from October 2010:

Either President Barack Obama isn’t familiar with the words “endowed by their Creator” when quoting the Declaration of Independence, or he doesn’t subscribe to that part of the wording that describes people’s intrinsic rights. At a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee dinner Monday in Rockville, Md., Obama again either misquoted the words of the most famous document in American history or he purposely omitted them, CNS News reports.

For reportedly the third time in a month, Obama said that “each of us are endowed with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

A Google search will reveal more such stories. There is video evidence as well, but I will not show that. You can Google it if you want.

Whether one is a believer or an atheist, a belief in the inherent and pre-existent nature of inalienable rights is justified. But this is a sacred American document, and whether one is a believer or an atheist, one has no business rewriting it. Even if especially if one is the President of the United States. Who does this guy think he is?

This might have been a post for yesterday, but perhaps it is better not to post it on the sacred commemoration of our great Independence. But now, remember this fact going forward—that a president of the United States is intentionally (once is an accident, many times is not) misquoting one of the most important political documents in human history. Consider that in the polling place.

Christopher Cook is a writer, editor, and political commentator. He is the president of Castleraine, Inc., a consulting firm providing a diverse array of services to corporate, public policy, and not-for-profit clients.

Ardently devoted to the cause of human freedom, he has worked at the confluence of politics, activism, and public policy for more than a decade. He co-wrote a ten-part series of video shorts on economics, and has film credits as a researcher on 11 political documentaries, including Citizens United's notorious film on Hillary Clinton that became the subject of a landmark Supreme Court decision. He is the founder of several activist endeavors, including AnyStreet.org (now a part of Western Free Press) and Liberatchik.com. He is currently the managing editor of and principal contributor to WesternFreePress.com.